This invention relates to posture improvement devices, and particularly to signalling devices of the character that are utilized to indicate poor posture. The signalling device of my invention is useful for several purposes, including assisting a person to improve his posture, strengthen his abdominal and back muscles, achieve a more desirable waistline, and improve his breathing mechanics, among others.
Good posture benefits a person's appearance as well as his general health. In addition, good posture may be effective to prevent or correct certain back ailments. In particular, contracting one's abdominal and lower back muscles generally results in good posture and improves one's appearance by reducing one's waistline.
Thus, desirable posture is integrally related to the strength and utilization of a person's abdominal and back muscles. Improvement of one's posture can therefore be directly related to the development and exercise of those muscles.
In addition to or as an alternative to active, focused exercises to accomplish the desired and beneficial muscle development, it has been found that signalling devices can be worn on certain areas of the human body to alert the wearer when the relevant muscles are excessively relaxed or when the wearer's posture otherwise needs to be improved. Utilized properly, such devices enable a person to "train" his abdominal and back muscles to maintain good posture.
Prior art signalling devices are directed to the aforesaid desirable result but have significant shortcomings. Illustrative of the cumbersome, inconvenient nature of such prior art devices are the devices of U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,541 to Hall, U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,480 to Janness, U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,279 to Yoslow et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,733 to Celest et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,168 to Miller et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,625 to Fraser et al. These devices involve substantial modifications or additions to normal articles of clothing, and appear to cause some discomfort or at least to be significantly noticeable to the wearer. For example, the mechanism of Hall requires numerous restrictive straps enwrapping the wearer's torso. By way of further example, the device of Miller utilizes a harness cable extending around the longitudinal axis of the body from the pubis to the scapula.
It further appears that the foregoing prior art devices may be detected by persons observing the wearer, which is an undesirable aspect in some, if not most, circumstances.